The Phantom ::Awakened::
by EpicReckless
Summary: What happens when a 19 year old experiment, soon to be known as the "Phantom" comes into contact with the famous "Black Repear" in hopes of infiltrating the Syndicate to find out the truth about her powers, her past, and what she is?
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: Ok, this is my first time writing about an Anime series, and if you haven't guessed this story is a fanfic about the Darker Than Black series. It's what is called a _"hit or miss_" basically if you guys like it, and I get comments about it, Ill continue it, if not...I wont. So please let me know what you think. Also for those who KNOW the series, YES Hei will be making his appearance soon, and will be ALL over this story IF You want to see more of it that is.**

I felt the front of my eye lids pull open in an instant and the large white light above me felt as though it were peering into my soul. I squinted harshly wanting it to simply go out or dim at least a little but instead it was constant, hovering above me as if it itself were watching me. I closed my eyes and groaned at the sight of the black floating dots that took the shape and position of the light that shined in my eyes before they closed. Moving my head to the side I could see nothing but a large white room, an empty room, with nothing but me on a hospital table. Was this a hospital? It didn't look like any hospital that I had ever seen before. Sitting up I could feel the pain of the wires that were attached to my head, wrists, arms, and legs and I instantly began pulling at them. Screaming loudly, I pulled continuously until I was sure there were none of them left. My body shivered, not from the harsh cool air that hit my body, but in a way that my nerves were telling me my body was once again under my control.

I pulled myself up and pushed myself off from the table and instantly felt the front side of my body collide towards the floor. I couldn't use my legs, why couldn't I use them? Running a hand through my hair I looked around the room again just to confirm my suspicion. This could not have been a hospital could it? Waking up in the middle of a room full of nothing, on a table slab, with a large mirror in front of me as if I were being watched by people who didn't want me to know them. I finally crawled over to the door and pulled myself up on the door knob and found myself angry when it wouldn't open. Glancing to the side I could easily see a key pad, so I was under observation and the only way out is if I were some kind of faculty.

For a moment I found myself beating on the keypad over and over until final a few sparks flew before the door simply opened .I smiled to myself in accomplishment and of course felt like a fool for having such a wide grin over opening a door. The outside of the room looked like a hospital, but it was also so strange because the doors weren't made like normal doors of a hospital. It was almost like extra security measurements were taken to keep whatever was locked away in those rooms, locked away; like a libratory. I felt myself stumble through the white, cold, and empty halls seeing nothing but doors like the one to my room that I felt so accomplished about opening.

I stopped in my tracks when I caught a glimpse of myself in a long and wide mirror that was built into a wall. I moved closer to it and ran my hands across my face and moved it through my hair. My light purple eyes seemed so dark when I looked at them now, and the dark, blackish blue hair that belonged to me, dangled past my shoulders and fell around my elbows, and it sat in complete contrast with my slightly pale skin. Who was I? Where was I? What year was it? Why couldn't I remember anything?

I tugged at the hospital gown that lay open on each side of me and wrinkled my nose as it when it began to slightly stick to my skin. It was strange how it nearly matched my skin when it came to the color, I was so pale. The sight of it made me feel kind of self conscious, but why? There didn't seem to be anyone around who would be in the slightest bit concerned about the tone of my skin. I felt my hand graze a piece of paper that seemed to be attached to the inside of the gown at the very bottom. From the look of it, it seemed to be a description.

_"Jane Doe. Victim of close impacting wound to body, survival or materials from Heaven's gate. Experiment 2; Focus of light energy._" dated 10 years ago along with a picture of what seemed to be, me. Why hadn't I aged? What did they mean by experiment 2 or light energy? And materials from Heaven's gate? What did all of this mean? What was going on? Why wasn't there anyone around for me to ask questions to? I placed a hand to my fore head and tried to remember something, but it was of no use. All my small memory could muster was a telescope, stars, and then an explosion that ended it all. If I was "asleep" for 10 years it would definitely explain the lack of color in my skin, and why I couldn't quite use my legs when I first got up earlier. I inspected the letter a little more only to see that it was signed by a symbol that read "syndicate" what was that? Are they the ones that kept me here like this? If so, why was the place so deserted like this? I watched slowly as I walked out of the large building and looked back at it as it gleamed in the starlight that hung above me. I bit my bottom lip and scratched the side of my head as I did not know that it had been this late already, especially with all the bright lights illuminating the entire building on the inside. I stumbled the streets for what felt like hours until I was noticed by two men who slightly stumbled themselves. The thought of them waking up in the hospital and being like me crossed my mind until I heard their slurred speech which indicated to me that they were clearly inebriated.

"You lost sweetie?" One of them asked. I wanted to say yes and pray that all he wanted was to give me proper directions but I knew full well that he wasn't interested in simply letting me walk away from him. I could feel my voice build up, as I wanted to speak, but I had a strange fear of what my voice would come out sounding like. So I simply nodded 'no' and continued to walk in the direction of them just like I originally was to begin with. Crossing my arms around my body, I passed the first one trying not to look as uncomfortable as I felt. Here I was wearing a hospital gown that was see through, and had no sides to cover up anything, while also not wearing under garments. I finally found myself walking past the first guy and my nerves finally eased as I rubbed my hands up and down my arms.

"You cold honey?" The other one asked grabbing at my forearm, so tight that I couldn't shake him loose.

"Let go of me." I finally responded and my voice came out so soothing at first that I doubted that it even belonged to me. It was fearless, nice, smooth, like there was a confidence beating behind it, a confidence that I knew for sure that I didn't have.

"Don't be shy." the other one recommended. I glared at him and tried to pull away from the other guy, but it didn't work. He pulled me closer to him and I could smell the boos on his breath and it quickly turned my stomach.

"Please, I don't want any trouble." I answered trying to reason with him.

"Now, wearing that, I find that hard to believe." He responded. I didn't have time for this, I needed to know who I was, where I was from, why I was here, and most apparent, I needed clothes because what I had on now clearly gave people the wrong idea. I found myself pulling away from him and having him forcefully pulling at me to the point where my response of pushing him away turned into me swatting at him as if he were some kind of insect in my face. I felt my hand come into contact with the fleshy tissue of his face and in return felt his fist collide with mine. I felt my body go slightly limp and his hand clamped around my throat.

"Yeah, hold her still." the other guy urged him on and began moving behind me. I could hear him fiddling with his clothes and I felt myself panicking and filling with anger. The anger made my hands burn beneath me and I finally looked him in the eyes.

"Let...me...go.." I responded hearing my soothing voice turn into one of complete rage that it scared even me. Suddenly a slightly clear force surrounded the space in front of me and sent the man holding my neck flying in the opposite direction. With his departure, a small gush of wind hit my face and pushed my dangling hair from my elbows and into the air for a few moments. Turning to face the man behind me I felt my anger rise up again and the energy from before, returned. Repeating the cycle from before, the man who had his hand glued to his belt trying to get it removed began flying back at an alarming rate. I looked down at my hands and felt my heart rate increase at a rate that I didn't think was humanly possible. What was I? What had I just done? How did I do it?

"Hey..." A small voice said from the deserted side walk to my right.  
"Hey..." it repeated again and for a moment I still saw nothing until I finally noticed an old man standing in an alley way and wearing a white apron. I squinted in his direction trying to get a better look and only saw him tilting his head toward the alley way as if he were telling me to follow him. Normally I wouldn't plunge myself into danger by following a strange old man that I didn't know, but he had such a strange kindness about his face. His eyes looked honest and knowing like he genuinely wanted to help me. I could feel my legs slowly easing in to his direction and I could feel an instant rush of trust towards this man that I didn't even know. However, in a way I felt like I had known him once, that I trusted him, once. I could see that we were both walking towards a small diner, one that looked very popular with guests at the moment. I didn't wish to go in, I was already embarrassed for being dressed in a hospital gown, and on top of that, I had no idea who or what I was.

"What am I doing here?" I asked hearing my voice return to the soothing melody that it was early when I spoke. I stopped moving near the diner's entrance, afraid of being around so many people.

"Don't worry, they won't see you, we're going in through the staff entrance only." he assured me. I bit my bottom lip and decided to trust him again and followed him into the side entry of the diner and smiled when I realized we were indeed hidden from the rest of the public. Strolling through the side entry, we made our way up the stairs, and into a small room that rested above the diner. He held the door open for me, and closed it behind me after I entered.

"I have some of my granddaughters older clothes in here, they should fit you nicely you two seemed to be just about the same build." He nodded handing me a small pair of blue jean shorts, a black fitting t-shirt, and a pair of black shoes.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked while watching him place the clothes slowly on the bed in front of me and backing away slowly. He wasn't afraid of me was he? I mean I was just a girl, then again after seeing what I did to those men who could blame him. Was I really just a girl anymore, or was I something else entirely different. I will admit, I didn't kill those men, I just sent them flying away from me because they were going to do things far worse to me than I did to them.

"Do you know...who I am?" I asked another question since he seemed keen on not answering the first few.

"I can explain a few things after you're dressed." He nodded before walking to the door and backing out of the room, closing the door behind him. I spent most of my time gazing around the small, girl like room that I was in, and I couldn't help but smile. It seemed so homely, so at peace and here I was a stranger in its mists.

Instead of getting dressed I sat on the end of the bed, and momentarily there was a knock at the door. This time there was an older woman who entered, well within her 60's it seemed.

"Are you hungry?" She asked holding a plate of rice, curry, and orange chicken. I nodded no not wanting to be rude but the loud roar of my stomach embarrassingly gave me away. She only smiled and handed me a pair of chop sticks and a plate of food.

"Don't deny yourself food love; you need to get stronger, and to do that you need to eat." She smiled while straitening up a few things on the plate for me to see. She reached out a hand for my hair and I flinched slightly, and she seemed hurt by this. It wasn't anything personal I simply could not trust anyone, plus I had already gotten punched in the face earlier by someone.

"You know, I'm sure it could use a little wash, it should make it shine." She bargained. I could fill the look of utter cluelessness glued to my face, along with a large dose of innocence of what she was talking about. I pulled my hands to my hair and began stroking at it, and realized she was indeed right. A wash just might make it more attractive looking. I grew even more curious about her, about that man, about this place? What was it? Where was it?

"There's a shower in there." She said pointing to the bathroom. I couldn't disagree with her, I smelled like hospital but what did I expect after being asleep in one for over 10 years. Leading me to the bathroom, I watched her carefully as she turned on the warm water, adjusted the shower head for me, pulled out body wash, a towel, underwear, the clothes from the bed, lotion, tooth brush, tooth paste, shampoo, conditioner, and deodorant. I was curious to if I had ever received kindness like this in my previous life? I mashed my lips together and felt them twitch lightly as I tried to rearrange them to say the right thing.

"Thank you…." I muttered softly. She smiled at me and ran her hand across my cheek.

"Of course." She responded leaving the bathroom. Getting undressed was fairly easy considering all I had to do was yank at the hospital gown and it nearly fell to shreds to the bathroom floor. While finally stepping into the alluring hot water I could feel myself drifting into a state of complete and utter relaxation. Who knew my one and only weakness would be the steam hot waters of a shower. I had been asleep for over 10 years but I'm sure showers worked the same, a little soap here and there, shampoo for the hair, razor for the legs and other features, the tooth paste and brush for my teeth, and lastly the conditioner. The entire shower ritual made me feel like some sort of kid and I could feel that I was taking forever, but an ungroomed 10 year old body needed work.

Finally emerging from the shower was such a different experience for me, and I smiled at how much fog was clinging to the mirror because of my Hollywood shower. Putting on the deodorant, lotion, and clothes, I finally got to the bedroom to see the old man from before waiting there for me.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd think I was staring at a different person from before." He smiled crookedly.

"Thanks for the flattery, but I really need to know what you know." I stated bluntly. I was entirely grateful for everything he and his wife had done for me, but I needed to know why it was he was doing this, and what it was he knew about me. He seemed to look around the room for a moment before focusing his brown eyes on me.

"What do you know about contractors?" he asked raising a brow. I looked at him confused. I couldn't even remember my name let alone whatever it was he was talking about.

"I don't know anything about that mister. If you haven't noticed, I woke up in a deserted hospital, and I was roaming around the streets in a gown." I answered sarcastically.

"Contractors are individuals with super powers that became more apparent to the public when the new gate, called Hell's gate, was built. It was built shortly after the fall of Heaven's gate, and the Syndicate along with the government is keen on keeping the existence of contractors a secret. So keen that anyone who has any idea that contractors exist are put through a machine called ME that erases their memories of the entire substance of them." He informed me.

"ME?...Memory erase….could that be what happened to me?" I asked curiously.

"Your memories were uploaded into a machine and saved to a data disk that is owned by the Syndicate. I was prohibited to access it in my time of work, and after all these years I haven't the slightest idea of where it could be now, but my name is Dr. Mustang, and I was once assigned to your case." He nodded.

"Data disk? Is it possible that the Syndicate still has it?" I asked curiously.

"Of course. They would never lose something so delicate. However, it would take a hell of a lot for you to get to it. You'd have to have friends in much higher places than I." He admitted.

"What do you mean assigned to my case? What all can you tell me, about me I mean?" I asked.

"All I could access was that you were left for dead in a small town called Okinawa." He paused, and his face held so much pain before he continued.

"Left for dead?" I questioned. What kind of person was I?

"Yes. If you look slightly beneath your collar bone, near the center of your chest, you'll see a large, but healed gash." He spoke pointing to my chest.

"You were found with a large kitchen knife sticking out of that spot." He continued. I pressed my fingers to the spot and sure enough there was a lump of healing flesh there. Who would stab me and why?

"What else?" I asked. He looked away from me for a moment as if he were afraid to tell me more.

"I don't have time for the sentiments old man. Just tell me." I stated crossing my hands around my chest.

"Awhile back I worked for the Syndicate, I was a scientist, and we were on the breakthrough of trying to figure out a way to create a being with the same techniques as a contractor, just more human, easier to control. During the experiments we had to use actual human beings to test its accuracy. As a scientist I never asked or cared about where the patients came from, because they were usually runaways, or drug addicts, but when you crossed my desk, I had to know where you came from because I knew you were different."

"So that's what it meant…Experiment 2, light energy." I answered.

"Yes. You were infused with the ability to bend the light energy around you."

"So is that what I am, A contractor?" I asked.

"No, you're actually…" his words were trailed off by the sound of a loud blow below us, a blow that literally shook the floor beneath us. He stood up from the bed quickly and ran for the door to the room and looked over the stair way that lead to downstairs. He stood there for a moment before running back to the room and grabbing a gun from the top drawer of the desk in the corner.

"I knew it wouldn't take much time before they knew of your waking." He stated with a voice of complete aggravation.

"Who?" I asked curiously.

"We don't have a lot of time." He answered grabbing a small bag of clothes for me in a satual bag and pushing it over my shoulder.

"Listen to me, you need to get out of this place, out of this town. Change your appearance, make up a name, and start over. If you're desperate to know about who you are….what you are…you must find a way to involve yourself with the Syndicate. The only way you can infiltrate them is by working within them, make them trust you, and go from there. Being what you are, you could easily get a job with them, they will hire you to most likely destroy contractors because they seem to see them as a threat, but no one can know of this identity. Don't trust anyone, and do not let on about what you know. I wish I could tell you more but there is no time, I am so sorry about what I was forced to do to you." He answered running his hand across my cheek before turning back to the door of the room.

"Get out." He urged pushing me to the window. I didn't know what to do, or what to say. He only had one gun against many men, he wasn't going to make it. He turned to face me then smiled and I knew full well that surviving wasn't something that he had counted on.

"I forgive you." I muttered pulling myself through the window and down through the fire escape. Pulling the grip of the bag closer to my chest I began running until I could feel my lungs burn inside me, and beg for me to stop, but I didn't. I finally realized what it was I had to do, infiltrate the Syndicate, and possibly become an assassin so that I could get my hands on that data disk and Dr. Mustang's research. I had to know where I came from, what I had become, and what happened to me. Without knowledge of my past, I was simply an empty shell roaming around these cities with nothing to live for. Besides, it was clear that I would never live a normal life, especially with these Syndicate people knowing that I've awakened. Apparently, I was important to them, and they just became number one on the top of my list of finding out the truth.

When I reached the out skirts of the city I finally stopped running and began taking a few deep breaths while looking back at the city. All I could see clearly was the dark and polluted smoke that erupted from the spot in which the diner I just ran from rested. It became clear to me at that one moment that the syndicate didn't want me to know something, and I was going to find out what it was.

Taking another deep breath I looked up at the artificial stars and set my sights on the bigger picture, the future, the truth. Placing one foot in front of the other I began walking in the same direction, hoping to get somewhere far, far enough for me to settle down somewhere, and get in touch with the syndicate for '_work_.' I hope the Syndicate is ready, because this, this meant war.


	2. Chapter 2 ::Employer::

**Author's Note; if any of you know someone here who would be a good editor to read my stories before I post them, and pick out errors and such for me, please let me know. Also, I wanted to clarify this since it confused people. First, there is a reason why the character was able to stand, walk, and punch etc after being in a comma for 10 years. I did that on purpose, and you'll learn WHY she was able to do that in a few more chapters. Also with the Syndicate being resourceful and people thinking that her changing her appearance won't help, you'll learn more about that too, I did that on purpose as well. When we get there everything will click, I promise.**

"_You have to infiltrate the Syndicate, __being what you are, you could easily get a job with them, they will hire you to most likely destroy contractors."_

The words of rang through my head as if they were lyrics to an annoying song that I couldn't forget no matter how hard I tried. Regardless of how I felt about those words now, I was eternally grateful for them because after weeks of thinking about them I finally uncovered their meaning. Mustang was basically trying to tell me that there was no way to safely get in touch with the Syndicate, they had to find me, and the only way to do that is if I did something drastic enough to catch their attention. So, for the next couple of months I spent most of my time wandering the countless cities in Japan and reeking havoc for every contractor I managed to run into or stumble upon. Surprisingly enough finding contractors wasn't exactly hard, the only ones I seemed to run into were the ones that broadcasted their abilities in petty crimes and hate wars. I didn't enjoy killing them, but I didn't too much feel bad about it either, what had I become? The hatred I had for contractors went far beyond infiltrating the Syndicate, it was linked to my past somehow, but there was no for sure way for me to know until I got my hands on that data disk.

It occurred to me that I had the opportunity to start over and just be a normal girl, but roaming around from place to place without knowing who you really are wasn't something to be proud of and it definitely wasn't safe. If there was one thing I believed, it was that your past catches up to you, and I wanted to be prepared for all the darkness in mine. Running a hand through my dark blue hair I looked up to the starlit sky and smiled to myself wondering how many stars were still left up there? From my understanding, whenever there was a new star it meant a new contractor had discovered their powers, and when a star fell it meant a contractor had either lost their life or lost their powers. Throughout my nomadic existence, I had mowed down over 14 contractors, so did that mean 14 stars had disappeared or fallen? It was odd that I found this interesting but it also made sense that the Syndicate would design it this way. If they connected every contractor to the stars in the sky, they could easily tell when a contractor was born and when one was eliminated, so it was likely to suspect that they were fully aware of my killing spree. However, the thing that interested me more, was if I, myself was connected to a star. I know the doctor told me I wasn't a contractor but it was strange that as soon as I awoke and he assisted me within his diner, his diner was attacked and burned to the ground. Those people had to be the Syndicate, and they had to have known that I was awake and looking for answers.

Glancing over my left side I attempted to look both ways to cross the street when I was completely overtaken by a loud piercing sound that caused me to cover both my ears. I pulled my foot back immediately from the street and witnessed a blue sports car zooming past me with a large red siren attached to the top of it. Tilting my head to the side I watched the car slightly disappear into the distance wondering what it was headed toward. However, when more sirens were to be heard nearby I instantly assumed that they were after a contractor. Usually when there was simple and petty crimes happening there was _**a**_ squad car, maybe two, but from what I could hear there were many squad cars following in the same path. A part of me wanted to follow in pursuit after them and find a way to get to the contractor first, but I'm sure people would notice me if I just randomly began sprinting off in the direction of all the police cars. Slipping my hands into my pockets I slowly made my way across the glistening street in front of me and headed down a slightly dark alley that was nearly hidden next to a restaurant. Calculating the distance of the siren noises and the clean straight direction ahead, I had a feeling that if I simply followed the alleyway I wouldn't have any trouble getting to the contractor that the police were chasing. The question was, could I get to him before they did?

Biting my bottom lip I pushed forward on my tip toes and began to slightly run in the darkness toward my target. I did seem to love a challenge, and I was quite sure that due to traffic, the police would be delayed by at least 6 minutes, which gave me enough time to get my message across to the contractor before they found him dead. Pulling together as much anger as I could I felt the energy in my hands burn again; the way it did on the first night of my awakening, and watched the clear like substance round itself into an oval like beacon. Jumping from the ground as quickly and as carefully as possible, I felt my foot come into contact with my newly sculpted object. The flat surface of it, made it easy for me to stand, or rather kneel upon without fear of falling, and the particles of the open air formed as a propellant, so I found myself basically surfing on air. This technique was beyond difficult to learn because one flicker of wind could throw me off my entire path and I could be rerouted in another direction. However, if I used the weight of my body in just the right way, I could direct the beacon beneath me to stay on the path that I laid out for it. After killing my first contractor I spent some of the remaining months trying to learn new ways to use my powers, but I wasn't very good at science so I never quite grasped the full extent of my gift. I will admit I still have a lot to learn, but at the moment I'm quite content with what I know how to do already. Placing my right hand on the surface and outside of the beacon I guided it up the side of a building so that I could stay as high to the sky as possible. Last thing I needed was to risk someone seeing me fly past them on my "invisible" surf board.

I felt my eyes searching frantically for anyone or anything out of the ordinary, desperate to find something interesting. For a moment I thought I had missed out on all the action because I couldn't see anything, but my heart began to pick up speed when I finally saw something, a man, running from rooftop to rooftop. I felt a frown migrate across my face when I saw 4 police men closing in on him, and I knew instantly that I couldn't get to him without being seen, nor would I have had any time to take him out. I was surprised when he threw his hands palm side up in defense and turned to face them slowly. I was fully aware that as a contractor he could have easily used whatever power he had to get away, but instead he was surrendering without a fight. Then it happened, slowly his body outlined itself in a thin blue light while a small but thick explosion gathered around him and then pushed itself towards the officers. The explosion took off a slight chunk from the top of the building, and the trajectory of the explosion looked as though it were aimed directly at the police officers which automatically informed me that it was caused by him. He was the contractor I was looking for, and little did he know his life was about to be over.

I witnessed him jump 3 more rooftops before he stopped and sat at the edge as if he were taking some kind of break. At this moment I decided it was time for me to take advantage of his small time of recuperation. Moving the beacon slowly in his direction, I rested it on the ground as carefully as possible trying not to make any sounds that would alarm him. Stepping off on my newly formed gadget, I watched as it disappeared into nothing as soon as my foot touched the rooftop. Lifting my eyes from the ground and resting them on him, I realized he was intently focused on something he desperately wanted from his coat pocket. I smiled to myself in accomplishment of the fact that I had successfully gotten this close to him without him knowing it. Observing him thoroughly I noticed that he was picking small flowers from his pocket, and shoving them into his mouth.

"So….that's your payment?" I asked in a voice of complete and utter disbelief. It was hard to believe that a man as big and supposedly threatening as him, was eating flowers. He turned to me quickly and gave me a look that I didn't quite understand. He looked at me the way a person would normally look at someone if they knew them somewhere before and was trying to figure out where.

"Eating pretty flowers?" I asked taking a few steps closer to him before stopping a few feet away.

"Who are you?" He asked curiously while his voice was full of cockiness. I smiled to myself and took a small step closer to him so that I was standing in the light. I didn't plan on saying anything else, I simply wanted to kill him and add him to my list.

"I see…..It's you….the one I've heard about. The Phantom." He answered looking me up and down as if he were displeased that I didn't live up to the name. I looked down at myself and shrugged; I **was** kind of tiny, but I was a girl after all, what did he expect?

"I'm sorry that I don't live up to the _rumors_." I answered raising a brow and putting an emphasis on the word '_rumors'_. I honestly didn't know that rumors about the Phantom would spread so quickly. I hadn't killed that many contractors, just 14, soon to be 15. A part of me wanted to be flattered, but at the same time I was curious to what the rumors actually said. Did they imagine and describe me as some she-beast with a tail and large muscles, or worse, did they imagine me as a man? I found myself amused by this.

"Rumors? So it's not true that you go around killing contractors, your own kind?" He asked rather angrily.

I felt my anger rise again before looking him in that eye.

"Contractors are _not_ my kind." I stated simply, hearing the anger in my voice that I made no attempt to conceal.

"Then what are you? Just a little girl?" He asked with a smirk that seemed to light up his entire face, a smirk that made me scared to know what it was he was thinking of doing. I tilted my head to the side; I could see this was going to be very interesting. He took a few steps toward me and I gathered my anger inside me again and this time I focused it around my body. He stopped moving on his own and stared at me curiously. Pulling the energy to my center, I let it build up and watched it scatter quickly from my being resulting in a cloudy mesh that shot towards him like a weapon. Watching him fly towards the end of the rails, I felt myself smile in accomplishment. He pushed himself up from the ground with his arms, and began to outline himself in that light again, like before with the police officers. I could feel my mind racing for a solution to stop him from blowing up anything around me, and only one thing came to mind. I watched the explosion build up around him and I pulled relentlessly at the light energy around me and managed to be engulfed by something. I had never tried this technique before and I quickly braced myself for the explosion that I didn't believe I was safe from. I stood up straight and waited for the 'boom' of it, but instead I simply watched the flames gather around me and blaze in an uproar. It took me a moment to realize that I wasn't being burned, nor was I hot in any sense of the word. Looking around, the flames curved around a bubble like structure that surrounded me, and exposed how large the energy around me really was. The large structure surrounding me truly reminded me of a bubble the way it seemed so delicate to touch, and it flowed like waves would in water, but it seemed so un-damageable.

When the flames finally dissipated I looked over to the contractor that stared at me in awe, but little did he know I was just as surprised as he was. Smirking, I looked away from him and lifted my finger to touch the top of the clear but slightly blue-ish structure that covered me, and watched it shriveled like a ripple would in water, and completely disappear.

"Tell me…" I paused walking closer to him slightly. "What do you know about the Syndicate?" I questioned. It seemed to be a long shot, but if he heard rumors about me, surely he had heard something if not anything about the Syndicate. He smiled at me and began coughing slightly, maybe he was in need of another flower.

"What do you want with them?" He asked curiously. The smile on his face when he asked caused me to kick him in the stomach. He knew something and before I left here he was going to tell me. Grabbing at his shirt collar I pushed him against the nearby rails and tightened my grip.

"What do you know?" I asked again.

"Scary organization, they have eyes and ears everywhere. Rumor is, they operate by word of mouth, and they have control of both contractors, and dolls." He spilled.

"Dolls?" I asked curiously. I had learned about contractors, so far I knew they were rational creatures, heartless, had no feelings, connected to stars, had abilities, and were usually very selfish. However, I had never really heard about dolls before.

"You have no idea what you're getting yourself into do ya kid?" He asked shoving me roughly. Backing away and catching my balance I looked up at him again and saw that he was preparing himself for another attack. Seriously? Wouldn't a rational person just run away? What would it benefit him to kill me?

I could see the explosion centering around him and I realized I could easily put up the shield to protect myself again, but I was running out of time, I needed to get rid of him now. Pulling up as much light around him as I could, I trapped him inside a ball of energy similar to the one I used to protect myself before, so that when he created the explosion, it never left his atmosphere. Containing his energy, the ball around him flexed and bulged out until everything inside it had been destroyed by the flames and the explosion that he created, including him.

"What a waste." I said to myself as the ball slowly dissipated into nothing.

"So you **are** the Phantom." A female voice spoke near me. I turned around to face the voice but there was no one there, just the endless distance of nothing but upcoming police sirens.

"I have to say I didn't believe it at first, so I watched you, and I have to say I am impressed." She continued. For a moment I didn't know if I should have been flattered or insulted.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked curiously.

"You want to know more about the Syndicate don't you? Then consider me your employer." I could hear the smile in her voice.

"Employer?" I questioned.

"The Syndicate finds your talent…..interesting. Seeing more of it is an absolute must." She finished. I turned my head to the sirens that sounded as though they stopped right in front of the building. I didn't have much time to question her, and I knew I couldn't let this opportunity go to waste. I turned around quickly when I heard a small thud on the ground next to my feet, and saw a stack of money covered with a band around it.

"Tomorrow, 8:30pm, inside Pinky's bar, we can discuss further actions that need to be taken. Wear something a little revealing; don't talk to anyone, wait to be approached, and no more killing until you've been directed to do so…." She paused for a moment and a small clicking sound was to be heard.

"You have less than 2 minutes. Go now." She demanded before a soft swish of wind was to be heard, and I had assumed that, that was the sound of her leaving. Bending down, I picked up the large bulge of cash and ran to the side of the rooftop. Jumping off the edge I pulled as much of the energy as I could to form another beacon to catch me midair, and carry me to the next destination. The problem was, I had no idea what the next destination was.

As soon as I got a good enough distance away from my previous location, I pulled the strap from around the money, and folded it into my pocket. Brushing my hair behind my ears I smiled widely and tried my best to look like all the other normal people on the street. Stretching out the band that was once around the money that rested in my pocket, I read the words neatly printed to the side of it.

"Something Black, and Something Blue." I tilted my head to the side and crumbled it into a ball. How did that help me? Did she want me to buy something black to wear? Was it some kind of joke? I gave up on trying to decipher it and ran a hand through my hair. It had been a long night, but I finally felt two steps closer to my goal. Tomorrow night, everything was going to change.


End file.
